NBC's Zucker: Television Has Changed

Truth be told, we had the sound off during yesterday's "EXCLUSIVE!" CNBC interview with NBC head Jeff Zucker. We didn't care much about Jay Leno moving to primetime, and we don't generally find interviews with people's bosses terribly illuminating.

But we did read the transcript this morning on the subway, and it was better than we thought (Good job, Erin!). We also chatted with a senior TV producer who noted that Conan must be furious because NBC has just upstaged him--moving Leno before him and rendering the Tonight Show irrelevant.

But, to Jeff Zucker's points, at least the network will save $10 million a week on production costs. And at least Conan isn't having to compete head to head with Jay on some other network.

Transcript courtesy CNBC:

CNBC’s Erin Burnett: TONIGHT SHOW HOST JAY LENO GIVING UP HIS LATE NIGHT THRONE FOR A CHANCE TO SHAKE UP PRIME TIME. WHAT WILL THE DEAL MEAN FOR NBC UNIVERSAL? JOINING US NOW THE MAN WHO MADE THE DECISION, MR. JEFF ZUCKER. IT SAID MR. JEFF ZUCKER IN THE THING HERE, JEFF.

NBCU’s Jeff Zucker: YOU CAN LEAVE THE MISTER OUT THERE.

Burnett: ALL RIGHT. SO THE NUMBERS THAT I'VE SEEN ARE THAT YOUR 10:00 SLOT IF YOU WERE TO PUT IN A SCRIPTED DRAMA, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS GOING TO COST YOU $15 MILLION A WEEK, JAY LENO'S SHOW WILL COST LESS THAN $2 MILLION A WEEK. WE'RE SAYING IS IT LUCKY 13 FOR YOU, THAT BIG OF A SAVINGS?

Zucker: I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ONE FOR ONE LIKE THAT. THE POINT IS WELL TAKEN THAT OBVIOUSLY THERE IS A COST BENEFIT TO DOING THIS. BUT THAT REALLY WAS NOT THE REAL DRIVER. THE REAL DRIVER OF THE DECISION WAS THAT JAY LENO WAS AVAILABLE [Was going to compete with us if we didn't hire him]. HE'S A UNIQUE TALENT WHO DECIDED HE WANTED TO CONTINUE TO WORK. THAT'S REALLY CRITICAL TO EVERYTHING. IF WE DIDN'T FIND A PLACE FORHIM WITH CONAN O'BRIEN TAKING OVER ‘THE TONIGHT SHOW’ IN JUNE A DECISION WE MADE FIVE YEARS AGO AND WE'RE AS SUPPORTIVE OF TODAY AS WE'VE EVER BEEN, IF WE DIDN'T FIND A PLACE FOR JAY HE WOULD HAVE ENDED UP IN THE COMPETITION AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE DIDN'T WANT TO SEE. LOOKING FOR SOMETHING FOR JAY TO DO. THE FACT IS THE VIEWING HABITS OF PRIME TIME VIEWERS TODAY ARE DIFFERENT THAN THEY'VE BEEN IN THE PAST. THEY'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT. 10:00 HAS NOT BEEN THAT SUCCESSFUL A TIME PERIOD FOR US IN RECENT YEARS. COUPLE THAT WITH THE FACT THERE'S A COST SAVINGS INVOLVED AND IT ALL ADDS UP TO A GOOD DECISION.

Burnett: JEFF, YOU'RE IN A POSITION HERE, I MEAN, LOOK WE KNOW THINGS ARE RADICALLY CHANGING IN THE INDUSTRY AND YOU'VE BEEN AT FOREFRONT OF THAT. BUT PROGRAMMING ON NETWORK TELEVISION IS MUCH THE WAY NOW AS IT WAS A GENERATIONAGO. NOW YOU'RE SITTING HERE BEING THE PERSON TO START TO ORCHESTRATE WHAT COULD BE A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE. IS THE CHANGE IN YOUR 10:00 SHIFT OR HOUR JUST THE BEGINNING? ARE YOU MAKING BIG CHANGES AT 8:00, BIG CHANGES AT 9:00? MAYBE BRIAN WILLIAMS GETS A WHOLE HOUR AT 8:00 OR SOMETHING DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT?

Zucker: WE ALL HAVE TO QUESTION THE STATUS QUO. THE BROADCAST NETWORK TELEVISION MODEL HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR 50 YEARS WITH THE WORLD IS DIFFERENT TODAY. CABLE TELEVISION, PLACES LIKE CNBC, PLACES LIKE THE USA NETWORK ARE MORE PROMINENT THAN THEY'VE EVER BEEN. DVR, TIVO, DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDERS PEOPLE ARE TAPING THEIR FAVORITE PROGRAMS AND WATCHING THEM OFTEN AT 10:00. ALL OF THE TECHNOLOGIES, THE COMPUTER, INTERNET, DID NOT EXIST FIVE YEARS AGO. THE WORLD IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT TODAY. YET STILL OPERATING UNDER THE SAME RULES THAT WERE INVENTED 50 YEARS AGO IN PRIMETIME NETWORK TELEVISION. I THINK WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES IS IT TIME TO CHANGE EVERYTHING? WE SHOULDN'T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE THINGS. THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE SHOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING. ‘THE NIGHTLY NEWS’ IS DOING A FANTASTIC JOB AT 6:30. BRIAN WILLIAMS' RATINGS THIS YEAR ARE GREATER THAN A YEAR AGO. MORE PEOPLE ARE WATCHING. BUT YET WE HAVE TO QUESTION EVERYTHING. THIS IS ONE EXAMPLE OF THAT. I THINK, WITH REGARD TO NBC AND WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO DO IN PRIMETIME BETWEEN 8:00 AND 10:00, THAT WON'T CHANGE. I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO SEE GREAT SCRIPTED PROGRAMS BETWEEN 8:00 AND 10:00. AND THIS WILL ACTUALLY GIVE THEM A MUCH CLEARER FOCUS. AND WHERE THEY WERE PROGRAMMING 19 TO 22 HOURS A WEEK, NOW MONDAY TO FRIDAY, 8:00 TO 10:00 THEIR FOCUS IS MUCH CLEARER.

Burnett: BUT UNCHANGED IN 8:00 TO 10:00 IN TERMS OF HAVING --

Zucker: THERE WILL BE SCRIPTED PROGRAMMING OF THE HIGH OF THE CALIBER, WE'RE INVESTING MORE MONEY THAN WE HAVE IN A LONG TIME IN MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE GREAT PROGRAMS BETWEEN 8:00 AND 10:00 SO WE'RE AS STRONG AS WE CAN BE THERE AS GREAT LEAD-INS TO JAY LENO. ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT IS JAY IS GOING TO BE ORIGINAL 46 TO 48 WEEKS A YEAR AS OPPOSED TO MOST PRIME TIME DRAMAS AT 10:00 THAT ARE IN ORIGINALS 22 TO 24 WEEKS A YEAR. JAY IS GOING TO BE ORIGINAL VIRTUALLY YEAR ROUND.THAT'S A HUGE ADVANTAGE.

Burnett: DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE OTHERS FOLLOW? MAYBE JON STEWART APPEARS ON ABC OR YOU'RE MAKING THE FIRST STEP IN A DIRECTION THAT A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WILL FOLLOW AND COMPLETELY CHANGE?

Zucker: LOOK, I DON'T KNOW. I MEAN I THINK EVERYBODY'S GOT TO DECIDE WHAT'S BEST FOR THEIR OWN BUSINESS. OUR COMPETITORS, YOU KNOW HAVE HAD DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SUCCESS. AND THEY'RE ALL INCREDIBLY STRONG AND INCREDIBLY SMART. EVERYBODY'S GOT TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THEM. I THINK ONE OF THE REAL REASONS THIS MADE REAL SENSE TO US IS THAT JAY LENO WAS AVAILABLE AND THAT IF WE DIDN'T DO THIS WITH JAY, HE WAS GOING END UP ON THE COMPETITION. SO I THINK THAT, COUPLED WITH THE FACT WE REALLY DO FEEL THERE IS A PARADIGM SHIFT GOING ON IN NETWORK TELEVISION AND THAT WE HAVE TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT OUR COST STRUCTURE AND THIS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD, I THINK THAT'S WHAT MADE SENSE AND WHETHER COMPETITORS STEP IN AND THE SO THE SAME THING THAT WILL BE FOR THEM TO DECIDE BUT I WOULDN'T PREJUDGE ANY OF THAT.

Burnett: IT’S INTERESTING ON THE COST SIDE I KNOW YOU SAID IT'S DIFFERENT THE NUMBER OF WEEKS A YEAR YOU'RE IN PROGRAMMING, ETCETERA. OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE THIS FOR A LOT LESS COST AT 10:00. WHAT ABOUT ON THE REVENUE SIDE? DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE FROM ADVERTISERS WHETHER THERE WOULD BE A SHIFT THERE AND IT WOULD BE TO THE UPSIDE?

Zucker: LOOK, OBVIOUSLY THE REVENUES WILL BE DETERMINED BY HOW THE PROGRAM PERFORMS. BUT OBVIOUSLY WE DON'T EXPECT TO DO QUITE THE SAME RATINGS AS AN ORIGINAL EPISODE OF A COMPETITIVE DRAMA LIKE ‘CSI MIAMI .’ ON THE OTHER HAND, BECAUSE WE'LL BE ORIGINAL FOR 46, 48 WEEKS A YEAR IN THE AGGREGATE OVER 52 WEEKS I DO THINK WE’LL DO A COMPARABLE RATING OVER THAT TIME PERIOD. REALLY, THAT'S THE WAY ADVERTISERS BUY TIME. THEY DON'T BUY JUST 22 WEEKS A YEAR. THEY WANT SOMETHING.THEY'VE BEEN ASKING FOR ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING 52 WEEKS A YEAR. ISOTHINK THIS ANSWERS THAT QUESTION FROM THEM. AND THE FACT IS, AS A RESULT REVENUE WILL FOLLOW AND I THINK REVENUE WILL BE THERE. SO I THINK YOU DO GET THE SAME REVENUE AND I DO THINK THE COSTS COME DOWN AND THAT'S A GOOD BUSINESS EQUATION.

Burnett: ANALYSTS TALKING ABOUT THIS TODAY SEE THIS REFERENCE TO A LONG TIME, HE'S GOING TO BE HERE A LONG TIME, LONG TERM.THEY WANT TO KNOW HOW LONG.

Zucker: WELL, LOOK, WE'VE MADE A MULTIYEAR COMMITMENT TO JAY. HE'S MADE A MULTIYEAR COMMITMENT TO US. SO I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO WORK LONGER OR HARDER THAN JAY. HE WASN'T READY TO RETIRE. HE SAID THAT IN HIS PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY. THE FACT THAT HE'S WORKING 46 TO 48 WEEKS A YEAR IS ANOTHER TESTAMENT TO THAT. SO WE’VE GOT A MULTIYEAR COMMITMENT TO THIS AND I THINK WE’LL BE VERY EXCITED FOR MANY YEARS TO COME ON NBC.